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Friday, April 29, 2011

Smooshed Potatoes

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...If you are looking for a slightly different take on roasted potatoes, you might want to give this version a try. It differs from its more classic cousins in that the cooked potatoes are lightly smashed before being roasted. Younger members of our family refer to these as smooshed potatoes and that is a pretty apt name for them. It certainly is the only thing that sets them apart from other roast potatoes. The potatoes are smooshed to create a greater surface area for browning while they're in the oven. Having said that, I'm pretty much at a loss for words, other than to tell you that kids love to make these and they actually eat them. Because there is so little to the potatoes, I use my best olive oil for their roasting and finish them with fleur de sel - French sea salt. The one tip I want to share with you concerns the precooking of the potatoes. In order to avoid over cooking or water logged potatoes, I use my microwave to cook them. I place them in a single layer in a large microwave container to which 3 or 4 tablespoons of water has been added. I cover the dish and microwave the potatoes for 10 minutes at which point they are fork tender and ready to be smooshed for roasting. Recipes rarely get easier than this. Here's how the potatoes are made.

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Pour 4 cups of water into a large pot and bring it to a boil. Add potatoes and 2 teaspoons salt and cook at a medium boil for 10 to 12 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked. Do not over cook. Alternatively, potatoes may be placed in a large microwave container to which 3 tablespoons of water have been added, and, cooked, covered, for 9 to 10 minutes on HIGH power until potatoes can be pierced with a fork.
3) When the potatoes are cooked, rinse them under cold running water to stop cooking. Place the potatoes on a work surface and, using your fist, punch them so that they flatten a bit. I protect my hand with a thin pot holder.
4) Place potatoes and the garlic cloves on a baking pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle each potato with olive oil. Transfer pan to oven and roast for 15 minutes. Turn potatoes to opposite side, drizzle with more olive oil and bake for 15 minutes longer. Transfer potatoes to a large serving dish. Peel and mash garlic cloves and add to potatoes. Mix well. Serve immediately. Yield: 4 to 6 servings.

I remember seeing something similar in food network channel and since then it was in my mind but I didn't remember the recipe at all. This looks so gorgeous and garlic with potato .. perfect combo ! :)

My boys would love this! Thanks for the recipe and all the details, I will sure give it a try, it's easy to make and looks good. With the garlic touch, it must taste so delicious! Have a great day Mary,CheersMamatkamal

Three out of the four of us love potatoes anyway we can make them. The youngest not so much a potato fan unless they are roasted. I would love to try this recipe Mary! I think it would be a wonderful way to get the children involved in preparing dinner. Have a wonderful weekend!

anything with potatoes sounds yummy and delicious to me..and these look so tempting and inviting..great and easy recipe..would love to try this on the weekend..thanks for sharing!Have a nice weekend! Take care!

Hi Mary thanks so much for popping over to my site and leaving your nice comment. What a great site you have here, have just added myself to it (if you liked mine please add yourself too). As I scrolled down your home page, I could only say WOW! so many wonderful dishes including risi e bisi ... your smooshed potatoes look delicious too! I am sure to be back to read more.

smooshed potatoes! what a cute name :) that looks & sounds really good... and though i rarely use the microwave for cooking stuff, i like that you cook the potatoes in the microwave - it just makes sense in this case! Thanks for another awesome recipe, Mary! :)

I know this is an older post, but I wanted to say that I love unique recipes like this. The first time I saw potatoes done up this way was to fry bacon while they are boiling, then fry them in the bacon fat. Then put baked potato fixing on them. Very good that way too, but I could see this way being great to pair up with a roast. I can't wait to try it!

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